Railway car wall construction



2 Sheets-Sheet i W. H. PETERSON RAILWAY CAR WALL CONSTRUCTION Filed Jun'e 29. 1954 May 12, 1959 Invcnior I V'illiam 11. P6 erspn I AH am 63 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 an n mr W a t nd i I A w mm M. a

BJIMM w. H. PETERSON RAILWAY CAR WALL CONSTRUCTION May 12, 1959 Filed June 29.

Patented May 12, 1959 RAILWAY CAR WALL CONSTRUCTION William H. Peterson, Homewood, Ill., assignorto Pullman-Standard Car Manufacturing Company, Chicago, 111., a corporation of Delaware Application June 29, 1954, Serial No. 440,123

4 Claims. (Cl. 105-409) capabilities, it :is necessary that the structure also have the capability of sustaining and transmitting the forces without permanent deformation of a nature to eventually destroy the energy absorption properties of the structure.

In addition, thereto,.the efficiency of the particular wall structure may be greatly aided by the provision of better horizontal restraint measures along all the edges of thestructure.

Thus, it is :the principal object of this invention to pro vide a wall structure having the inherent quality of high energy absorption so as to receive and transmit the various [forces directed thereto and in so doing, performs properly its function in relationto adjacent car structures. Another object of this invention is to provide a wall structure having the inherent quality of withstandinghigh forces and transmitting those forces without assuming a permanent deformation of any substantial degree.

.And another object of this invention is to provide a :novel means of rigid horizontal restraint along the edges of the wall structure and particularly at the roof and floor junctures.

.And still another object of this invention is to provide a wall structure wherein the constant freight car problems of "broken linings and grain infestation are completely eliminated.

These and other "objects will become more apparent from the following description accompanied by the drawings in which:

Fig. 1 showsin elevation an end of a railwaycarembodying an improved wall structure;

Fig. 2 showsin vertical section the improved wall structure astakenonthe line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a horizontal section on line 3-3 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged vertical section on line 4-4 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 5 is an enlarged vertical section on line 5-5 of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 6 is an enlarged horizontal section on line 6-6 of Fig. 1.

Referring to the drawings, the invention is shown embodied in an end wall 10 of a railway freight car. The end wall 10 comprises an outer wall sheet 11, which is divided into three separate sheets 11a, 11b and 110 for manufacturing convenience, the sheet 11 having a side flange 12 at each side which is normal to the plane of the sheet. An inner wall sheet 13 comparable to the outer sheet 11 also has side flanges 14 normal thereto and extending adjacent to the flanges 12. The flange 12 and the flange 14 inwardly thereof lap the side wall at the ,sides of the wall 10 .have been .made.

12 sheathing 15 at each end of the wall 10 and are all .secured, as by rivets16, to a.corner post .17. The post 17 or framing member also has a nailer strip 18 secured thereto, as .by a bolt 19, the inner side wall lining 20 being secured to the nailer strip ;18. By this securing arrangement, a rigid horizontal restraint along the sides .of the wall .10 is obtained.

Between the wall .sheets 11 and 13, .an outer layer 21 of horizontally laid struts in the form of wooden planks 22 is provided, one plank .being laid on top another or side-by-side from the base 23 of the .wall 10 to the top 24, the planks 22 extending from the flange .12 on one side vto the flange 12 on the other side of the wall 10. Behind the outer layer 21 of planks22, another or inner layer .25 of struts is provided; however, these struts or planks .26 are laid vertically and closely adjacent each other or side-by-side having the same dimensions and shape as the outer layer 21 and being disposed face-to face therewith in contacting relation, thereby completely filling the space between the sheets 11 and 13 and forming aright angular end wall. It is to be noted that this particular embodiment discloses two layers,.however more than two layers could be used where necessary, the various layers preferably having different directions, as determined by the direction in which the planks are laid, in order to provide a more homogeneous mass.

By this structnrecontaining a wood core, the superior energy absorption properties of wood over those of steel, on the basis of comparable weight and cost, are utilized to a high degree. Lock bolts 27 tie the outer wall sheet 11, the outer wood layer 21, inner wood layer .25 and the inner wallsheet .13 together, the bolts v2'7 being inserted through holes .28 in the sheets. The lock bolts provide a tflexible shear connection which permits the wood to bend and-absorb energy and also to dissipate additional energy by means of shear friction, an entirely different action [from that occurring where the members are rigid. It has been found that a flexible wall of this construction has superior qualities over that of a wall wherein the members are rigidly tied together, and itis to be noted that by the disclosed arrangement, relative movement is possible among the layers, sheets and bolts, allowing optimum flexibility. Also, to achieve this effect n greater degree, diagonal corrugations 29 are formed 111 the outer wall sheet 11 in order to allow the surface of the sheet .to momentarily assume a concave shape under impact, thereby preventing local buckling in the cornets of the sheet. The lock bolts 27 are placed at the centers of the intersecting planks 22 and 26 (Fig. 1) so that greater shear flexibility is achieved.

In order to have rigid horizontal restraint not only but at the square top .24 and thesquare bottom 23, novel structural improvements .At the bottom, the conventional end s1ll angle which has a tendency to distort outwardly is replaced by a flat end sill plate 30 having a depth beyond the corner posts 17. The end sill plate is rigidified by being connected centrally thereof to the center sill 31 and and filler plate 32, by being secured to the floor stringers 33, and by securement at the sides to gusset plates 34 which are in turn connected to the side sills. 35, as by rivets 36. By this means, stress is transmitted along one plane rather than being offset so as to cause distortion, as would occur where an angled plate were used, thereby aiding the efficiency of the horizontal restraint along the bottom 23 of the wall.

At the top 24 of the wall 10, a right angular end plate 37 is provided which has a horizontally disposed leg 38 extending over a major longitudinal portion of the top surface of the two layers of wood 21 and 25 and which is secured, as by welding, to the outer wall sheet 11, and a vertically disposed leg 39 extending up to and being secured, as by rivets 40, to the end flange 41 of the end roof sheet 42. The inner wall sheet 13 has a short angled upper marginal extension 43 which is connected to the vertically disposed leg 39. Due to the particular car embodiment having a peaked roof,- the end plate is also peaked and has vertically disposed gussets 44 and 45 secured thereto to transmit horizontal restraint stresses along the top edge of the wall to the end roof sheet 42 to prevent the end plate from unfolding or buckling.

The corner posts 17 are secured at their top to the side plates 46 and at their bottom to the side sills 35. The problems of grain infestation and broken end lining are eliminated by the complete elimination of wooden end lining with void spaces therebehind and by providing a caulking space 47 between the end floor board 48 and the inner wall sheet 13, the side wall lining 20 running right up to the sheet'13.

Thus it may be noted that an improved vehicle wall structure having a metallic casing and enclosing therein a core of layers of perpendicularly arranged wooden planks connected to the casing by lock bolts through intersecting centers of the planks is provided which, due to an improved rigid horizontal restraint along all the edges, allows for an extremely flexible wall capable of high energy absorption without substantial permanent deformation.

What is claimed is:

1. A wall for a railway car having spaced vertical framing members, comprising a layer of wooden struts disposed side-by-side in a horizontal manner, another layer of wooden struts vertically disposed side-by-sidc, said layers being in parallel adjacent planes and facing each other in contacting relation, an outer Wall sheet covering one layer, an inner wall sheet covering the ohter layer, said wall sheets being secured to said framing members, and connecting means secured to said inner and outer Wall sheets connecting said sheets and said layers together extending through intersecting centers of said struts whereby to provide flexible shear connections between the inner and outer wall sheets and the struts to dissipate energy by means of shear friction generated by relative movement among the struts and sheets when the wall is under stress.

2. An end wall for a railway car comprising an outer layer of wooden struts disposed side-by-side'in one direction, an inner layer of wooden struts disposed side-byside in a direction at an angle to that of the outer layer, said layers facing each other in an adjacent parallel relation, a flexible outer wall sheet covering said first layer,

' a flexible inner wall sheet covering said second layer, and

connecting means connecting said sheets and said layers together passing through substantially the center of struts in different layers at a plurality of their intersections whereby to provide flexible shear connections between the inner and outer wall sheets and the struts to dissipate shear friction generated by relative energy by means of layers and sheets whenthe wall is movement among the under stress.

inner and outer metallic wall sheets covering said layers,

and connecting means extending through intersecting centers of said struts connected to the respective flexible wall sheets and securing said layers and flexible wall sheets together whereby to provide flexible shear connections. between the inner and outer wall sheets and the struts to dissipate energy by means of shear friction generated by relative movement among the struts and sheets when said wall is under pressure.

4. A wall for a railway car having spaced framing members comprising a first layer of wooden struts disposed side-by-side, a second layer of wooden struts disposed side-by-side, said first and second layers being in parallel adjacent planes with the longitudinal axis of the wooden struts of the second layer disposed at an angle to the longitudinal axis of the wooden struts in the first layer, said layers facing each other in contacting relation and having substantially identical shapes, inner and outer metallic wall sheets covering said layers and being secured to said framing members, and connecting means extending through intersecting centers of said struts connected to the inner and outer wall sheets and securing said layers and said inner and outer wall sheets together whereby to provide flexible shear connections between the inner and outer wall sheets and the struts to dissipate energy by means of shear friction generated by relative movement among the struts and sheets when said wall is under pressure.

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